Eco-Friendly Business Park Suggested for North Iowa City

Developers hope to break ground in the fall

By David Elbert Des Moines Register

An Iowa City landowner and a developer from the Des Moines area hope to take advantage of Iowa City's reputation as one of the nation's best places to live by building what they say will be the nation's first macro green eco-technology park.

The 170-acre office park site is farmland owned by Stephen Moss, immediately north of Interstate Highway 80 on the west side of the Dodge Street exit.

The plan is to construct energy efficient office and retail buildings, and possibly some housing, on the undeveloped site, said Barry Crist of Windsor Heights, whose ECO-4 Partners will develop the site.  Kiewit Corp. of Omaha has been signed as general contractor, and the hope is to begin moving dirt this fall, Crist said.

Wendy Ford, Iowa City's economic development director, said, "It's an exciting concept, but it has a ways to go before it happens."

Crist said developers are working with the city to annex 50 acres that are currently outside the city limits, as well as determining how to connect the site to city sewers and streets. In terms of transportation, the site is currently landlocked with no streets leading into it.  The plan is to build a road north of the NCS Pearson complex on Dodge Street. The development site is located immediately east of Pearson.

Moss Green Technology Park will be marketed as using cutting-edge green technology, Crist said, including porous pavement that absorbs rainfall, green sewers made from fiberglass, buildings with green roofs, solar panels, energy efficient lighting and systems for reusing gray-water runoff.

He expects future tenants to include former University of Iowa graduates who run businesses that they would like to locate in Iowa City because of their previous connections with the city. Crist also said it will be attractive to companies that see Iowa City as an amenity-rich location that is less expensive than major cities on either coast or Chicago.